Fire escape



y 23, 1929- w. w. PHILLIPS 1,714,813

" FIRE ESCAPE Filed Feb.'2l, 192a Patented May 28, 1929.

UNiTEnsrArEs WALTER w. rHILLIPs, or ERAnKEoRn, DELAWARE.

EIRE ESCAPE.

Application fi led February 21, 1928.. Serial No. 255,876.

This invention relates to flexible ladders and has particular reference to such apparatus designed particularly .foruse. as fire escapes, and the invention is in the nature of an improvement over the fire escape shown and described in Letters Patent of the United States No. 1,647,841 issued tome on the 1st day of November, 1927. p

Among the objects of the invention is to improve this class of devices in such particulars among which are the following: First, better facilities for the folding or nesting of the flexible ladder when in idle or inactive position usually .avitlnn easy reach of a window withina building and preferably when stored in an article offurniture such as a settee, window box, or other receptacle; secondly, to so construct the head orupper portion of the ladder as to, render it impossible of failure for co-operation properly witha building unit such as a window sill. l/Vhile the mechanism already patented. to me is satisfactory in the main when properly adj usted, it has been found to be unsatisfactory wit-l1 respect to the details of refinement herein referred to.

With the foregoing and other objects in View the invention consists in-the arrangement and combination of parts'hereinafter de scribed and claimed, and while the invention is not restricted to the exact details of construction disclosed or suggested herein, still for the purpose of illustrating a practical embodiment thereof reference is had to'the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters designate the same parts in th several .views, and in which- Figure 1 is a diagrammatic indication of how the improved fire escape or flexible ladder may be nested or folded in compact condition for ordinary inactive use in an article of funiture which may be located at any convenient place within a building as adjacent to a window. I

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the extended position of the ladder for use as a fire escape and with easy access thereto through the window and over said article of furniture as a step.

3 is an outside elevation of the ladder as would be seen; looking toward the left in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4: is a side elevation of a modification.

Fig. 5 is a front elevation of the principal parts shown in Fig. 4.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings, I show at'lO a fragment of a building wall in which is built a window 11 having any suitable sill structure 12, and at any convenient point within the building as upon a floor 13 is an article'of furniture or receptacle 14in the nature of a settee, box chair,.or window box, the same being shown herein as comprising aseat 15 hinged at 16 toswing upward and rearward againstflthe back 17and between a pair of arms 18 at least one of which is hinged at 19 to swing upward and rearward as shown in Fig. 2 so as to make free clearance between the region of the seat 15 and the window sill when the fire escape is tobe used as such. It will be noted that the article of furniture is portable, not being attached-t0 any other part of the building and so may be moved about to any part of the building or room or in front of any desired window for use. I

The ladder portion a proper comprises a series of rungs 19 of any suitable construe tion, each mounted between and supported-by a pair of side links 20, all the side links 20 being in two parallel planes. Auxiliary links 21 likewise arranged in pairs are connected to the main links 20, the same being artic'ulated or jointed at 22 to the main links close above the axes of the rungs. Washers or other spacers 23 may be employed between the main and auxiliary links to insure ample clearance and freedom'of movement of the links with respect to one another. The auxiliary links are all arranged in two parallel planes, the plane of each series of auxiliary links being within the plane of the adjacent series of main links or so disposed toward the center of the ladder structure as to compel the rungs 19 toiinpinge against the outer edges of the auxiliary links when the ladder is in use. This compels the flexible ladder to assume the position in side View as shown in Fig. 2 and thus insuri-ng'that the rungs 19 shall be held sufficiently spaced outso that by no possibility willthe persons hands or feet be interfered with in pasing downward over the ladder in escaping from the building as during a fire. That is to say, the construction of the ladder, is such that the pairs of main and auxiliary links" shall assume an angular position with respect to each other and compel the axes of the pivots 22 to stand outward to a substantial distance ward from the outside wall of the building lit say at least four or five inches from the building wall and for the rungs to be thereby held outward from the building still farther. Obviously the number of rungs and pairs of links connecting them may be as many as desired according to the height of the window to be protected by the use of the fire escape and it will be understood that the flexible ladder when ejected outward and downward from the window will reach substantially to the ground or other point of escape.

The uppermost mam links 20 are jointedat 24rto the outer or lower ends of a pair of master links 25 to which are connected preferably pivotally at 26 a plurality of hooks 27 of suflicient size and strength to engage inplained as follows, it being borne in mind that in the case of emergency such as a lire when people are always more or less excited if not frantic, the directions of the use of the appliance must be not only simple and easily understood, but the construction must be such that the mechanism can not fail to operate or be brought into proper position of adjustment. The article of furniture being placed adjacent to the window preferably with the arm 18 close to the window, such arm 18 is swung upward to the position of Fig. 2, the seat 15 is swung upward in the same general direction,the outer or loose end of the flexible ladder is liftedfrom the receptacle and started outward and downward through the window, the weight of which continues the extension of the ladder until the hooks 27 reach the window silland engage thereover. The construction'is such that the hooks can not fail to engage and hold upon the window sill. However, to .make it absolutely impossible for the ladder to pass too far out through the window, flexible connections such as chains 28 are employed to anchor the same loosely to theinside of the receptacle asshown at 29'. It is to be understood, however, that the connections 28 are notintended to sustain the weight of the ladder and persons passing downward over it. After the latter is adjusted as just explained the seat 15 is returned to normal closed position, notches 30 being and thence downover the ladder rungs to escape.

WVith respect to themodification shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the building construction and article of furniture arrangement Wlll be under stood as the same as already described I together with the construction and action of building so as to insure proper offset of the links from the building for the purposes above set forth. Pairs of longer links 32 are sandwiched between the main short llnks 31,

the links of each series having the same plane I as described in connection with the first arrangeinent. By making the links 32, however, substantially longer than the curved links, the nesting or folding of the flexible ladder is rendered much more facile and convenient than would be true if the links 31 were longer thanthose at 32. i

I claim: l i y 1. A flexible ladder comprising a series of main links, auxiliary links interconnecting the main links, the main and auxiliary links. extending in two parallel planes lengthwise of the ladder, and rungs extending transversely of saidplanes and connecting the corresponding 11121111 links, said rungs engaging the main links at the lower ends thereof, each auxiliary link engaging a main link between the ends thereof and'in proximity to the rung, and each auxiliary link engaging at its lower end an upper end of a main link beneath the auxiliary link, the rungs co-acting with the adjacent auxiliary links to retain the'latter and the main links at a predetermined angle with respect to each other and the rungs in spaced relation. to a wall.

'2. A'fiexible ladder comprising a series of main links extending in parallel planes lengthwise of the ladder, a series of rungs extending transversely of the ladder and connected to the main links attheir lower ends, each main link having two pivotal points one of which is at an upper end of the auxrungs bearing against the auxiliary links to retain the main links at anangle with the auxiliary links and therungs 1n outward spaced relation to the wall of a building.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

WALTERW. PHILLIPS. 

